Soon, smartphones may be able to "see" objects hidden behind walls with LiDAR.

Soon, smartphones may be able to “see” objects hidden behind walls with LiDAR.

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 24/05/2026 at 00:24

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MIT research published in Nature shows that consumer LiDAR sensors, used in premium smartphones and evaluated in tests with hardware below $100, can capture weak reflections on walls and floors to track hidden objects, paving the way for applications in common devices, robots, and wearable devices.

Smartphones will be able to track objects hidden behind walls using LiDAR and an MIT algorithm described in Nature, an advancement that brings non-line-of-sight imaging to cheap sensors.

How smartphones can track objects out of visual range

The technology starts from a known LiDAR limitation. The sensor emits light pulses, measures the return time of the reflected signals, and calculates distances to map three-dimensional environments.

This supports augmented reality features and improves depth perception in premium models. The problem is that the conventional method only sees what is directly in front of the sensor.

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Tests used consumer LiDAR under $100

In the experiments, the team worked with a standard consumer-level LiDAR sensor, costing less than $100. The targets were positioned behind walls and partitions.

Among the objects evaluated were a moving mannequin, cardboard cutouts, and letters. The sensor was pointed at the floor or the wall near the barriers, exploring indirect reflections.

The algorithm tracked the mannequin in real-time and produced approximate three-dimensional reconstructions of the hidden objects. In another test, it tracked multiple objects, including a person’s two hands, at 30 frames per second.

In this case, retroreflective gloves helped isolate the signal from the hands in relation to the light reflected by the torso, allowing better tracking of the movement.

What is still needed before use in common devices

The proposal has limitations. The technology works best when the software knows or can approximate the basic shape of the tracked object, a condition that simplifies the reconstruction made from weak signals.

The next steps involve expanding the method to unknown or changing shapes. If this stage progresses, NLOS imaging could reach consumer applications, robots, and wearable devices.

The central contribution is reducing the dependence on bulky and expensive equipment, previously associated with laboratories. With simple sensors and adequate processing, smartphones can track hidden objects and transform almost discarded reflections into useful visual information.

With information from techxplore.

1 Comment

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Mark purkiss

#243123

24/05/2026 11:16

I think criminals will love this idea.

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Soon, smartphones may be able to “see” objects hidden behind walls with LiDAR.

MIT research published in Nature shows that consumer LiDAR sensors, used in premium smartphones and evaluated in tests with hardware below $100, can capture weak reflections on walls and floors to track hidden objects, paving the way for applications in common devices, robots, and wearable devices.

How smartphones can track objects out of visual range

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Tests used consumer LiDAR under $100

What is still needed before use in common devices

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Soon, smartphones may be able to “see” objects hidden behind walls with LiDAR.

MIT research published in Nature shows that consumer LiDAR sensors, used in premium smartphones and evaluated in tests with hardware below $100, can capture weak reflections on walls and floors to track hidden objects, paving the way for applications in common devices, robots, and wearable devices.

How smartphones can track objects out of visual range

With 48 meters in length, 11.5 meters in width, and a capacity for up to 20 people, the floating laboratory from Germany will test hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, batteries, drones, and autonomous systems.

Tests used consumer LiDAR under $100

What is still needed before use in common devices

Engineers want to carve through Africa with a giant canal to bring water from the world’s second-largest river to a dying lake on the edge of the Sahara Desert that has already lost 90% of its water.

A giant brown band visible from space, approximately 8,850 kilometers long, connected Africa to America in the Atlantic Ocean, and satellites revealed that it is neither land nor pollution, but the largest accumulation of seaweed in the world, which broke records in 2025.

Instead of burning or burying old tires, an American city is transforming about 2,000 of them into the street itself, paving its first sections with a quieter and more durable rubber asphalt.

In just one cast, fishermen are surprised to capture 14,096 mullets in Bombinhas and close a historic season with 58,000 fish; scene recorded in the Santa Catarina paradise marks the last day of the 2026 season.

Consumers eat six times more chicken than in the 1960s, global meat supply quadruples in 60 years, and FAO report reveals the invisible cost on the plate: livestock could drive 80% of the increase in agricultural emissions over the next decade.

Greek island offers free housing for volunteers, but there’s a condition: you need to take care of rescued cats.

Motorcyclist sees excavator arriving at the edge of a river in Bosnia, calls neighbors in minutes and turns a hydroelectric project into a resistance lasting more than 10 years with five expired concessions.

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With 3.3 million liters of water, 23 thousand square meters, and more than 300 species, AquaFoz ranks among the largest aquariums in South America.

Greece’s old power grid came under suspicion after 15 major fires, 51,000 acres burned, and low-hanging cables crossing dry areas like clotheslines on windy days.

Indigenous teenagers paddled nearly 500 km by kayak along the Klamath River after 4 dams were removed, salmon returned to ascend the waters, and the United States celebrated the largest removal of this kind in its history.

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